ALL-IRELAND MFC FINAL: Dublin 0-14 Meath 1-5:KILLING MEATH softly. Without much of a fuss, Dublin found a way to put ball after ball over the bar when it really mattered. Fourteen white flags had to suffice because there was no clear route to goal. These Royal teenagers refused to allow the Leinster final trimming to be repeated.
So Dublin had to do it from distance, with subtlety. Barring the penalty Fiachra Ward buried 12 minutes into the second-half that reduced arrears to a single point, Dublin controlled this contest.
Finally, after last year’s shock collapse against Tipperary, they have captured the Tom Markham Cup for a record 11th time. That statistic, equalling Kerry, has been 28 years in the making, since way back when big Jim Stynes was a minor.
Expecting the Meath tactics – a 14-man defence with an attempt at Donegal style counter-attacking – Dublin countered with a horseshoe defence. The attacker was corralled into the pen, harassed and dispossessed with the likes of Ross McGowan or ultra-solid fullback David Byrne striding clear.
Eric Lowndes deserves a special mention for a smooth, assured performance. He bravely embraced an awful belt from Meath’s Patrick Kennelly late on that will have minor hurling manager Shay Boland worried.
On reflection, the Meath approach was little more than a stopgap because you need to be in front to defend a lead.
It so easily could have been different. With a minute and change on the clock, Barry Dardis’s clever hand pass gave Fiachra Ward a sight of goal but Lorcan Molloy sprung from his line to block the shot with his feet.
Ward did post a free seconds later but Dublin responded with points from Niall Walsh, Cormac Costello and a brilliant, on the run, curling effort from Lowndes.
All these scores came from turnover ball deep in Dublin territory. And away they went.
It could have got really ugly for Meath on 16 minutes but Shane Carthy had to be satisfied with a fisted point after his belting strike for goal was blocked.
Still, Dublin had constructed a comfortable 0-5 to 0-2 lead.
James McEntee was acting as the Meath sweeper and while this proved effective, it was the transfer of possession at pace down field that was proving tricky. Pádraic Harnan and Ward were ever willing carriers into the blue wave.
The difference, as so often this season, was Costello. He landed a 40-metre effort on 28 minutes that knocked the wind out of the Meath resistance.
This was followed by a pointed free to open up a five-point gulf.
He killed them softly, did Costello. From distance.
You feared for Meath, such was Dublin’s such ferocity after the interval, and having kicked three wides in as many minutes, Costello’s vision eventually engineered a score for Niall Scully.
Points from Ward and impact sub Patrick Kennelly for Meath made it mildly interesting but something urgent was required to stop the procession.
Mercifully, it came when Cillian O’Sullivan’s clever ball across the Dublin goalmouth saw two blue shirts collide mid-air, presenting Harnan with a goal chance. He passed it to Kennelly in a better position and Walsh was adjudged to have clipped his leg in backswing. Ward rolled the penalty past Molloy.
“We set out to be in touching distance with 10 minutes to go,” said Meath manager Andy McEntee. “We got within one point but needed to kick on, needed to get the next score.”
Dublin got the next five. They ruthlessly upped the pace with Carthy landing a long range free, followed immediately by a Walsh point then another by Scully. When Carthy hit a second free with eight minutes to go, after brilliant scrambling by Lowndes, any hint of a shock dissolved.
“The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result,” said McEntee. “This was our third time playing Dublin so setting up the same way we felt we wouldn’t be able to cope with them.
“We were still in the game with 13 minutes to go, which is what we wanted, we just weren’t strong enough to finish it off.”
Meath tried something different but it wasn’t enough to prevent this hugely talented Dublin team from adding minor honours to the under-21 All-Ireland title.
It signifies redemption for Dessie Farrell and the returning players unexpectedly caught by Tipperary last year. They refused to let it happen twice. They had an inkling Meath would try to strangle out a victory.
“We expected it, we prepared for it, we knew it was going to be slow, that we would have to grind it out,” said Farrell, who said this success was more satisfying than winning his All-Ireland in 1995.
So, we’ll see you on the line in 2013, Dessie? “No, I’m dul abhaile. Thanks very much.” Maybe his head could be turned by the under-21 job. Regardless, the stated goal of the capital’s underage structure is to cultivate well-rounded footballers for the senior panel. Costello, Lowndes, Byrne and Carthy are prime candidates already.
DUBLIN:L Molloy; E Mullan, D Byrne (capt), R McGowan; E Lowndes (0-1), C Mulally, M Mac Donncha; S Cunningham, S Carthy (0-3, two frees); R Gaughan, N Scully (0-2), N Walsh (0-2); C McHugh, C Costello (0-5, four frees), G Burke. Subs: S Cunningham for R Gaughan (35 mins), D Gormley for G Burke (42 mins), D Campbell (0-1) for N Walsh (52 mins), M Deegan for N Scully (62 mins).
MEATH:R Burlingham; R Ó Coileáin, B Power, S Gallagher; D Smyth, P Harnan, S Lavin; S McEntee, A Flanagan; C O'Sullivan (0-1), J Daly, J McEntee (0-1); B Dardis, F Ward (1-2, two frees, 1-0 pen), S Coogan. Subs: P Kennelly (0-1) for B Dardis (23 mins), H Rooney for S Coogan (36), C Carton for D Smyth (48), C Ó Gríofa for F Ward (52), C O'Brien for J Daly (62).
Referee:B Cassidy (Derry).
